This invention relates generally to toilets for use in recreational vehicles such as motor homes and travel trailers and, more particularly, this invention provides such toilets with venting of the toilet to avoid the escape of noxious odors from the toilet into the vehicle.
Removable waste holding tanks adapted for use with toilets are typically positioned within an interior compartment of the RV. Waste is transported by the toilet structure to the holding tank where it is stored. The holding tank can be conveniently removed from the RV through an exterior access door and then transported to a waste disposal sight for emptying.
To enable the holding tank to accept waste products from the toilet of the sanitary system, a waste holding tank of the above mentioned type generally includes a centrally disposed fill opening located within its top wall. A seal element surrounds the fill opening of the tank and includes an upper portion which seals against an outlet opening of the toilet bowl. So constructed, waste can be easily and sanitarily transferred into the holding tank.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,776,631, 4,892,349, 5,031,249 and 5,318,275, all owned by the assignee of this application, show examples of the self-contained toilet systems of the type including a waste receptacle having a downwardly directed outlet opening and a storage compartment defined and located below the outlet opening along with a waste holding tank removably disposed within the storage compartment. These systems enable the RV operator to remove the holding tank from the RV through a small door in a wall of the RV.
Waste disposal systems utilizing a removable holding tank have been in extensive use for more than ten years. However, at all times, there has been the threat that noxious odors from the holding tank will find their way to the living area of the recreational vehicle.
The principal object of this invention is to provide an automatic vent system for a mobile toilet. In answer to this need, the holding tank will be vented to the outside of the recreational vehicle. The human waste in the closed waste holding tank generates gas that ensures that the pressure inside the waste holding tank is greater than the air outside the holding tank.
When the waste holding tank, after emptying, is returned to the storage compartment, the vent passage will be opened and will communicate with the atmosphere outside the recreational vehicle. A flexible tube can connect with the vent system so as to lead the odor from the waste holding tank to the outside of the RV. The tubing can end outside the recreational vehicle either through the bottom, a sidewall, or the roof. It is also possible in this system to utilize a motorized fan to assist the flow of noxious air from the interior of the holding tank to the air outside the recreational vehicle.